Pakistan on Tuesday urged deeper economic, technological and people-to-people cooperation with Central Asia at the Tianshan Forum for Central Asia Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in Urumqi, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal said Central and South Asia are emerging as key drivers of global economic growth and highlighted successful Pakistan-China projects as a foundation for further collaboration in industry, agriculture and technology.
The two-day forum, themed “Unlocking Connectivity and Investment in Central Asia,” drew over 300 participants from CAREC member countries, including government officials, private sector representatives, think tanks and financial institutions. Delegates focused on trade, transport, energy and digital connectivity.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an said CAREC cooperation has made significant progress and should expand in scale and scope to benefit member states. Charymuhammet Shallyyev, director of the CAREC Institute, described the forum as a platform linking policymakers, researchers, development partners and the private sector to address shared regional challenges.
Since opening its Urumqi base in 2015, the CAREC Institute has conducted over 180 research studies and trained more than 2,000 government officials through 150 programs. The forum also marked the launch of a Central Asia fiscal cooperation research center, jointly established by the CAREC Institute and Xinjiang’s regional finance department.
Xinjiang, bordering several Central Asian nations, is strengthening its position as a core hub along China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Trade between China and Central Asia reached 94.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, following the first China-Central Asia Summit in May 2023.
